Abay HObbit Khassenov — No. 6 in HLTV 2021

Again we are glad to see you at the recap of the top 20 cyberplayers rating from the HLTV portal. We are very close to the prestigious top five. Today it's the turn of Gambit Esports team rifler Abay Hobbit Khassenov, who proved to the world that it is always possible to come back to the industry.

The Gambit team can be considered as the main discovery of the past 2021. Young players got into the main roster and the organisation's legend. They burst onto the top of the modern CS:GO. The first part of the season was clearly dominated by the Red Machine. They should safely be called the Kings of the Online. The team won 6 tournaments in this format. Our today's hero was twice acknowledged as the MVP.

A couple of years ago, Abay disappeared from the big tier-1 tournaments by leaving Gambit. He returned as a temporary replacement for Supra to the youth team, where he fit in so quickly that he became an irreplaceable part of the main roster. Before the first trophy in 2021, HObbit won the trophy almost four years ago in Krakow at the PG Major.

In addition to his two MVPs, Abay won the individual lurker of the year award from the BLAST Premier. Moreover, he repeated Egor flamie Vasilev's high score in the majors, scoring 39 kills per map against Virtus.pro at Vertigo. That performance could safely be called Abay's best performance of 2021 because he won the toughest match for his team.

Statistics confirm such a high position in the ranking as HObbit's indicators comply with the title of an elite player.

It is important to point out that it was Khassenov who often was called the most dangerous opponent in Gambit for the team's opponents, even though we will be discussing the two young talents of the Red Machine with you in the coming days. HObbit created a threat to many teams until the end with his experience, confidence, and motivation to win. Often, there were times in the second half of the season when Gambit couldn't show such a confident game in LAN tournaments. It was Abay who fought to the last and encouraged young teammates. His primary function in the team is to keep the young and very talented teammates on their feet.

There is no doubt that in the coming 2022, Gambit Esports will be as confident and focused at LAN competitions. That experience was obtained at the same major in Stockholm, where the guys failed only in the finals, losing to the ultimate opponent Natus Vincere. By the end of the season, the players looked focused, as demonstrated by the results at the BLAST or IEM Winter finals.

Abay returns to the list of the world's best players after four years. Before that, the highest position for him was 11th place, but this year he is on a more honorable sixth place, which assesses his game in 2021 as objectively as possible. He might have been better than his teammate Sergey Ax1Le Rykhtorov, whom we'll talk about tomorrow, but he beat Denis electronic Sharipov of NaVi in the rankings thanks to having two MVP titles. Khassenov has an identical number of EVPs - 9, and fewer team titles won, but he's twice been voted the Most Valuable Player. That's the biggest difference between the teams. At Gambit, three players shared several MVP trophies, while at NaVi, one pro player won all eight medals.

In 2021, HObbit showed to the entire CS:GO universe that age does not always play a role in this industry, that at any moment, like a phoenix, it is possible to resurrect and restore one's career. Together with his young partners, Abay demonstrates an outstanding game, which sometimes leaves opponents speechless. The team is only progressing and maturing. Hence, there is no doubt about their success soon. Believe me. Their most experienced Gambit player certainly won't let them down.